Portal:Classical music/Selected article/8

Six Moments Musicaux (French for "Six Musical Moments"; Russian: Шесть музыка́льных моме́нтов, Shest’ muzykál’nykh moméntov), Op. 16, is a set of solo piano pieces composed by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff between October and December, 1896. Moments Musicaux comprises a group of six separate works which reproduce musical forms characteristic of previous musical eras. The forms that appear in Rachmaninoff's incarnation are the nocturne, song without words, barcarolle, virtuoso étude, and theme and variations. The individual pieces have been described as "true concert works, being best served on a stage and with a concert grand." Although composed as part of a set, each piece stands on its own as a concert solo with individual themes and moods.